ArticlePloS one2021
Menstrual hygiene management practices and associated health outcomes among school-going adolescents in rural Gambia.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic narrative review on Menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and The Gambia.International health · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Characterizing the bacterial surface profiles of menstrual cups and their association with user characteristics and vaginal microbiomes in an adolescent cohort from western Kenya.Gates open research · 2026Trial
- Access to WASH facilities and health implications of period poverty among in-school girls in rural areas of Africa: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The relationship between women's awareness of sustainable menstrual cups, their menstrual attitudes, and genital hygiene behaviors: a cross-sectional study.BMC women's health · 2026Article
- Menstrual Hygiene Management Practices and Associated Factors Among Female High School Students in Awsi Resu, Afar Region, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- School absenteeism during menstruation among adolescent girls in Southern Uganda: A multi-level risk factors analysis.Children and youth services review · 2025Article
- Determinants of urogenital tract infection symptoms among adolescent girls and young women in secondary schools and universities in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo: a cross-sectional study.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Mapping the health outcomes of menstrual inequity: a comprehensive scoping review.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of heavy menstrual bleeding in Africa: a narrative review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Review
- Menstrual hygiene knowledge and practices among female senior high school students in the new Juaben North municipality of Ghana: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Menstrual hygiene management among girls and women refugees in Africa: a scoping review.Conflict and health · 2025Review
- Beyond the Cycle: Investigating the Relationship Between Menstrual Hygiene Factors, Family Economic Stability, and Depression Among Adolescent Girls in Uganda-A 24 Month Mixed-Effects Regression Analysis of the Suubi4Her Trial.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- "Where does my menstruation come from?" Experiences and costs of menstrual hygiene management among Rwandese school girls.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Periods in a tough period: global health failure to respond to menstruation during war.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Menstrual hygiene management among reproductive-aged women with disabilities in Bangladesh.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Unmet menstrual needs and psychosocial well-being among schoolgirls in Northern Tanzania: baseline results from the PASS MHW study.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- Menstrual hygiene management and menstrual secrecy among young women in rural Lao PDR: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Using intersectionality to study gender and antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries.Health policy and planning · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Inadequate menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices have been associated with adverse health outcomes. This study aimed to describe MHM practices among schoolgirls from rural Gambia and assess risk factors associated with urogenital infections and depressive symptoms. A cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescent schoolgirls in thirteen schools in rural Gambia. A questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographics, MHM practices and clinical symptoms of reproductive and urinary tract infections (UTIs). A modified Beck Depression Inventory-II was used to screen for depressive symptoms. Mid-stream urine samples were collected to assess for UTIs. Modified Poisson regression analysis was used to determine risk factors for symptoms of urogenital infections and depression among adolescent girls. Three hundred and fifty-eight girls were recruited. Although, 63% of the girls attended schools providing free disposable pads, reusable cloths/towels were the commonest absorbent materials used. Heavy menstrual bleeding was associated with depressive symptoms (adjusted prevalence ratio, aPR 1.4 [95% CI 1.0, 1.9]), while extreme menstrual pain (aPR 1.3 [95% CI 1.2, 1,4]), accessing sanitary pads in school (aPR 1.4 [95% CI 1.2, 1.5]) and less access to functional water source at school (aPR 1.4 [95% CI 1.3, 1.6]) were associated with UTI symptoms. Conversely, privacy in school toilets (aPR 0.6 [95% CI 0.5, 0.7]) was protective for UTI symptoms. Heavy menstrual bleeding (aPR 1.4 [95% CI 1.1, 2.0]) and taking <30 minutes to collect water at home were associated with RTI symptoms (aPR 1.2 [95% CI 1.0, 1.5]) while availability of soap in school toilets (aPR 0.6 [95% CI 0.5, 0.8] was protective for RTI symptoms. Interventions to ensure that schoolgirls have access to private sanitation facilities with water and soap both at school and at home could reduce UTI and RTI symptoms. More attention is also needed to support girls with heavy menstrual bleeding and pain symptoms.
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